1 year.
365 days.
525,600 heartbeats.
One year has passed since saying goodbye. 365 days of missing you. Of thinking of you not being here. 525,600 heartbeats that break with every passing second.
People say 'he's just a dog' and 'you got a replacement'. And I smile. I move on. Because those people don't know me.
It isn't the fact that he was a dog. Or that I got another one. He was my best friend. He knew when I was sad. He knew when he did something wrong. He knew what he needed to do to get his prized purple football. We talked; he was a great listener. Even when he lost his hearing, he knew what you were saying. His eyes showed his thoughts. His love.
His clumsiness, his famous Rocket Dog charge, his fearsome bark with his wagging tail and smiling face. The hair. His grace. His tail - the locator beacon on searches. His toys. Always ready and eager to play. The hair. His protector status when people were close to me. Every day, a memory comes to mind. Every day, his love fills my heart.
People say in death there is life, in sadness there is happiness, and in hate there is love. I believe that you do not know how to be alive until you have helped your best friend through death, you do not know how to be happy until you have felt the pain of sadness, and you do not know how to hate when you have felt the love of a dog.
Forever my finder ~ I will always love you Koda. 10/09/05 - 03/01/2013
